A Daughter's Love - Book 2 The Frencolian Chronicles (complete)

Chapter Fifteen

Each evening, before the meal, the family met in the small hall, to discuss the day.

The baron spoke to the children, the eldest to the youngest, then after a prayer, they moved to the Great Hall.

Discipline was generally meted out as close to the time of the offence as convenience allowed. However, this was not always possible and the father regretted having to implement discipline before the evening meal. Inevitably the offending child was upset after the visit to the woodshed and could not partake of the food as enthusiastically as usual.

Not one child chose to give up time with their horse, but rather chose the rod, that the discipline would be over and done with, especially as they watched Ellie's mournful disposition for the week of the loss of her horse.

After the first week passed, the home became more orderly. Three of the children had received discipline, the two boys several times. On the second day, Ellie had been disciplined for swearing after which discipline, she flung her arms around her father and told him that she loved him, repeating this to her mother. Since then she managed to prevent her tongue from being rude and had pulled herself from sulking at her first pout.

One evening, the father addressed Jobyna, "You've apologized to me six times today, Jobyna. Once because you were inexcusably late for your lessons, three times for sliding down the banister and twice for calling your brother a pig. During the week you've made small mistakes, but today, these are much more serious. Can you explain why you've suddenly begun to offend? And why have you taken the care to apologize to me when it's obvious that these are not mistakes, but disobedience?"

He kept a straight face, but could see the amusement in his wife's eyes.

Previously, Jobyna had surprised all of the family. The first day, she announced she was going to learn with her head, not her seat! Since the first meeting, she had taking serious care to be a model child.

Twice at night, she fell asleep at the meal-table, but like many of her other small 'misdemeanors,' these were rightly considered childish offences, not rebellion or disobedience.

Ru and Emma had warned that a young child should not be disciplined for being childish.

Louis prayed for the wisdom to know if this was childishness now, or if it were blatant disobedience.

He decided she was testing him, to see if he would discipline her or not. If he didn't implement discipline, he knew there would be trouble ahead; perhaps she was pushing to find her boundaries.

The deeds she had done that day were outside the boundaries he had set. She had deliberately broken the rules.

Jobyna's eyes were bright as she nervously replied to her father's questions. "I has been plopply dis'bedient. I need to be dis'plinned! I has been ree'bell'ee'us."

The father's eyes met with the younger daughter's as he said, "Very well, then, it will be your turn to come with your mother and I to the woodshed. Is that what you want, Jobyna?"

Licking her lips, and sucking in her bottom lip with her teeth, Jobyna agreed, "If I has to, I has to."

He longed to smile, but the father forced it back and to the others, saying, "Apart from Jobyna's disobedience today, we've all had a good day, haven't we? Tomorrow, we'll be having a day of rest. We'll have one every week from now on, including slaves, servants, soldiers and villagers; everyone in the district will rest. Only those tasks and duties which must be done, will carry on.

"The day will be spent in resting, reading, memorizing and prayer. We'll talk more about it in the morning after breakfast, which will be an hour later and will consist of food that doesn't need cooking. The kitchen staff will have a day of rest as well. All the food we eat tomorrow has been prepared and cooked today.

"We will call the day, 'The Lord's Day' and will repeat it every week.

"You may leave, except for Jobyna."

Out in the woodshed, Louis worked his face to keep it severe and kept his tone to match.

First of all, he questioned Jobyna as to the reason for her misbehavior and why she wanted to be disciplined.

It surprised him; one of her reasons was that she felt, 'left out'.

"You was here for ages with Luke. I don't hardly see you, but he gets all that time here."

She stared at her mother and frowned, accusing, "You has a smile behind your face, Mother. Are you laughing at me? Yes, you are... you're laughing inside!"

She watched her mother shake her head and bow it so that Jobyna couldn't read her.

Turning back to her father, Jobyna said, "I arksed Luke... what were it like... the dis'pline, and he won't tell me. Marcus and Ellie told me to 'get lost' when I arks them."

Shrugging her shoulders, resignedly, she said, "I says to myself, I has to find out."

The mother's feeling of humor changed to concern when she realized as her husband prayed for Jobyna and her rebellion that he was going to follow through with the discipline. "Is it a month without Rainbow and all other horses, Jobyna, or do you choose the rod?"

Jobyna shrugged, and said, "The others didn't choose not to ride, so I's to get wot the others got..."

"Then, mother will mete out five," he said. Seeing his wife's hesitation, he stated, "Yes. Five. Three was not enough for Elissa's first time, and I believe if Jobyna has a serious taste, she will not need to come back here for a long time, if ever."

To both parents' bewilderment, Jobyna did not cry after having received the rod. Her face was white, but she put arms around her mother's waist and said, "You do love me, don't you, Mother?"

Turning to her father, she repeated the question.

After they exclaimed that they did, indeed, love her very much, she hurried out the door, saying, "Well, I's deserved it and I got it! Dinner will be waiting. Anton has cooked us a mutton, like you arks him to, Papa."

The parents sat down, exhausted.

Then Louis smiled, shaking his head.

Elissa broke into a nervous laugh.

"That child is so 'driff'rent,' my love," Louis said. "You must correct her speech. She has all the village slang mixed up together!"

He laughed heartily, then stood and said, "I's 'arkses' you to please 'learn' 'er to talk 'plopply'. She needs to be 'teached' 'plopper' grammar."

Drawing her with him, they entered the great hall to be greeted by an orderly household, with all four children obediently waiting at their places.